Octavia Towbar Blues
A couple of things of interest.
"13 pin EU and 7 pin AU Socket mounting"
Generally the VAG genuine kits come as 13 pin Euro and a 7 pin Aussie flat to 13 pin Euro adapter. Some Dealers have been fitting the adapter as permanent and cable tieing the 13 pin socket to adapter joint up under the rear apron because some of the locally sourced bars do not come with the drop down or permanent plate to mount the ISO1194 13-pin Euro connector. This happened to me and I am having it sorted as they just wrapped the joint in insulation tape which did not give a waterproof connection,they had even thrown away the rest of the 13 pin socket to compound matters! I have spoken to the VAG genuine towbar suppliers about this and they say there is no swivel down mounting plate because VAG didn't specify it. Wakeup VAG, have a look at the EU Genuine suppliers supply specs!
"Adapter Wiring"
There is also a problem with the VAG supplied 13-pin EU to 7-pin AU adapter in that pin 2 of the 13 pin EU (Rear Trailer Fog Light) has been wired to pin 5 (Electric Brakes) of the 7 pin AU socket! All because the same colour is used or a variation of on the Euro connector (Blue or grey/blue stripe IS1194.) and nobody thought to check it. I have spoken this week at the cost of an international call to the VAG genuine towbar suppliers who also supply the adapter. They where not aware of these problems as feedback given to Skoda/VAG re towbar faults never left VAG HQ in Sydney! Looking at the threads, this problem has been reported to VAG since 2009, not only on Skoda but other VW, Audi genuine towbar kits sold by VAG.
"Bulb Failure Warning"
In as far as bulb fail goes for AU fitted lighting kits, check that the towbar has been coded properly by the dealer! In early systems only 2 options are given: EU and "Rest of the world" (0 and 1), now it is different and AU electrics on the towbar should be set to country code "3" as this allows park light only on right channel and left channel without bulb check I think. The system passes 1.7 volts DC down each lighting wire to detect a load and if no load is detected on 1 channel it shows that channel as bulb fail. Multiple loads ensure trailer detection to disable rear parking sensors etc. etc. The link on the 13 pin plug between pin 3 and pin 12 which is part of the IS spec for the connector is not used by VW family of vehicles as they use a smart detect system.
I am getting quite the expert with these problems with having to sort out my own with the dealer, VAG and towbar manufacturers! 
"Towbar Load Rating Labelling"
One other problem is VAG having incorrect labelling info on the "Genuine VAG" towbars themselves and the "Genuine VAG" Towbar manufacturers having no idea of the problem!
The towbar for an Octavia Liftback, Combi (Wagon) and Octavia Scout are the same, just with different mounting points between bar and frame between the 2wd vehicles and 4x4 Scout. However the bar if fitted to an Octavia is only max rated at 1200kg (Factory max Spec is 1300kg!) whereas if fitted to an Octavia Scout it is max rated at 1600kg! The only label on the bar, as per ADR states only the 1200kg for the 2wd liftback and wagon Octavia! VAG's response is "If anyone asks, show them the owners manual specs!", 
this does not work in with Transport Inspectors or Police Traffic Officers in Australia and a fine and maybe loss of license points occurs as well as having to leave the trailer on the side of the road and coming back in a vehicle with a bar at the correct rating for the load!
They also need to get the max towbar spec right to start with! The owners manual says:
Permissible trailer loads, trailer braked
for OCTAVIA M6 / OCTAVIA DQ6 / COMBI M6 / COMBI DQ6 is:
1400b) 1600c)/1400a) c)
And for COMBI 4x4 M6 and SCOUT M6
1600b) 1700c) /1600a)c)
a) Vehicles of the group N1 (?)
b) Uphills up to 12 %
c) Uphills up to 8%
Permissible trailer loads, trailer unbraked 650 for all.
But the towbar supplied by VAG is rated at 1200kg!
I paid for the correct higher rated bar when I ordered my Octavia Scout, I even made sure that the dealer understood the max rating of the bar for the Scout and they verified with VAG accessory support that it was a 1600kg max rated unit and yet I still ended up with a bar with the wrong rating on it. I rang the NZ company who manufactures the towbars for VAG who knew nothing of the problems. They rang me back the next day to tell me what they had done and now have placed the cat amongst the pigeons, bouncing backwards and forwards across the Tasman as VAG are legally culpable of a breach under ADR labelling specs as well as commercial mis-representaion maybe in regards to towbars option specs to both Supplier and Customers 
. Neither "Westfalia ag" or "Eric-Jaeger ag" make this mistake or have this problem in EU and they are the "Genuine VAG" factory option towbar suppliers to VW ag EU! Also their installation instructions cover everything it seems including resealing with body seal over chassis bolts replaced 
.
Sorry about that last bit, the poor dealer is now waiting to see what happens as much as I am. The finger is pointed at VAG, not Skoda Australia as VAG arranged all the Local Genuine options for VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda.
Last edited by scoutau; 15-10-2011 at 04:35 PM.
Reason: Corrected towbar specs and inserted from manual
- Storm Blue Metallic / CS Aeromesh Onyx trim MY2011 (3/11 manufacture.) Skoda Octavia II Scout 2.0TDI 6 speed Manual.
-MDI-Factory Prep Towbar (13 pin Euro)-Factory Prep GSM II with 9W7 Bluetooth Phone kit-Tint 5
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Originally Posted by scoutau
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